I just started using DreamHost, and http://rtest.openprofile.net is the
first Rails site I put there. I read the information in their wiki about
setup, since I hadn’t used Rails with Apache before, and dutifully added
the recommended “froo handler” to dispatch.fcgi.
Bad idea. I sprouted endless dispatch.fcgi processes, and had to kill
off a handful every hour or two.
I tried various things, none of which worked, and finally tried taking
the routine out. Voila, it’s all fixed. One copy of dispatch.fcgi
running, good response time, and I’m much happier.
I guess the moral of the story is that even well-meaning advice can be
outdated or just plain wrong.
(This is with Ruby 1.8.4, Rails 1.1, and I guess your mileage may vary!)
–Al Evans